The Character Code
by Freydris
Summary: Dûrion, an elfling from an abandoned fanfic, tries to get his story -no matter how stupid a story it was- finished. In the process, he drags the this-takes-too-much-effort character, Gary Gray(his newly dubbed minder) and the girl's unwilling author into a mess that is overprotective elves, pedophile humans, and a minstrel elf who might or might not have a crush on said minder.
1. Prologue

The Character Code

Prologue

* * *

Freydris had always been that monster under my bed.

Her existence frightened me more than anything.

* * *

When I was five, I found out that she existed. It was my birthday and I was just about to settle in for the night, like any other five-year-old little girl. Mum was reading a bedtime story for me, Cinderella, when I heard humming from beneath my bed.

I was a coward at first, telling myself that it wasn't real, but days passed and the humming never stopped. Mum never seemed to notice it, and even if she did, she didn't react like I did.

When I finally gathered enough courage to do it, I looked. It was while Dad was reading Little Red Riding Hood, and I found her lying on her stomach, typing on a laptop. Under my bed.

And then she stopped, and looked at me. She scowled, looking like an angry wolf, ready to gobble me down. I blinked and she disappeared, the darkness seemingly swallowing her up.

I screamed and started to cry, telling Dad about it, but upon mentioning the scary girl typing underneath my bed, he only smiled sadly and patted my head. He then put down the book and started to tell me about Freydris.

The author and our creator.

I couldn't see her as a mother, or as a god, but Dad told me to treat her as an older sister. He told me how we came to be. How Freydris picked up that laptop and started typing. She typed out how life went for us. She was the Fate-Maker. However, everybody acted as if she didn't exist. Everybody pretended that she wasn't controlling their lives. Everybody believed that they made their own destiny.

But it wasn't true for us.

Because she was_ there_ and if she typed that I would die at age five and a half due to a car crash, I would.

And that scared me.

Because I couldn't go on living like everybody else. Because I couldn't pretend that she wasn't controlling my life.

Because for me, she was _always_ there.

* * *

She was, all at once, the voices inside my head, never particularly saying anything, but she was that voice I would follow.

It was unconscious.

Later on, I would be convincing myself that I did it.

_I did it with my own free will._

That was always the biggest lie of my life.

She controlled my life. Maybe she was me? She was everyone at once?

Thinking about her made my head ache all of the time. She didn't want me thinking about her. She wanted me to be like everyone else. Believing she didn't exist. I always wanted to ask her _why,_ because it must get awfully lonely being all by herself, but it was like someone grabbed my chin and buried it into something else important. Sometimes I forget. But I always remember. That helped a lot, because maybe, just maybe, Freydris didn't control everything.

I'm Gary Gray.

Currently I'm fourteen, that awkward age of adolescence. I had short black hair and dull dark eyes, with pale skin and a rather short stature. Freydris had condemned me to living my life as 5'4" teenage girl, but I didn't mind. I liked reading and writing fanfiction. I was lazy. I was, and still am, horrible at cooking. I hated kids, but sometimes found them cute. However, I preferred them standing three feet away from me and only for observation purposes. I accepted all kinds of sexuality, and I hated everything that actually needed more effort than most activities.

Today was just another normal day.

In the beginning, at least.

When I woke up, Freydris was standing by my window, transparent as ever, dressed in a loose shirt and pajamas. Her trusty laptop was pinned between her armpits, and she looked oddly thoughtful, staring at the sky.

I greeted her with a muffled yawn –after almost having a heart attack because either way she still scared me- and ignored the halfhearted glare she sent me. She always did that. She didn't like me thinking that she did exist. But she wasn't the boss of me(actually, she was) and I ended up stumbling into the bathroom for yet another troublesome day at school.

When I got out dressed in a gray shirt –fine, go ahead, make all the puns you guys can possibly think of- and jeans, she pointed to the black jacket hanging from my desk. I gave her a shrug and slipped on a pair of converse shoes, before trotting over to wear the jacket, ignoring the fact that it wasn't there before and I didn't own any black jackets. She nodded approvingly and flashed me a small smile, before fading into mist, leaving me completely alone.

I stared at the space where she used to be, shrugged again, and went downstairs. I grabbed some bread, kissed my parents goodbye, and ran outside, shouldering my half-open bag. I mentally thanked Freydris for the suggestion of the jacket -it was quite chilly outside- and waited for the bus. For my gratitude, the answering reply was a grunt.

I merely blinked at her rudeness and clambered into the noisy bus, greeting my acquaintances with a small wave. And then I sat down on the last row and slipped on some earphones. I listened to my Hetalia list of songs.

And then suddenly there was this little boy in front of me. I didn't know where he came from –he literally appeared from nowhere like a Harry Potter wizard- but he was there and for a moment I wondered if he was like Freydris. But he wasn't transparent and some people in front of me noticed him. They didn't ask on it, though, thinking I brought him along.

I blinked at him twice before scooting away. Freydris had materialized behind him, and she was rapidly shaking her head at me, mouthing "Avoid at all costs" like her life depended on it. She pointed at the little boy, still shaking her head.

Freydris might scare me, but I followed what Dad said years ago and treated her as an older sister. I would obey, she knew what was good for me after all.

The boy had long dark hair and pointy ears sticking out of said hair. He was dressed in what could only be described as robes, and his expression was oddly stoic. But he was a good-looking little boy. He was cute. And also five feet away.

Just where I wanted him.

I shook my head at him, made a shooing motion, and returned to staring out of the window.

Shuffling.

I glanced back at him and spluttered. He had moved closer towards me, nodding his head and pointing at himself. He held out a hand.

Was he telling me to take his hand?

Oh well.

"Will you behave and stay where you are if I do?" I asked him slowly, and he nodded in response, almost eagerly for someone who looked like he was ten times his age.

Freydris had stormed closer, moving to snatch the boy out of my touching range, but oddly, her hands went through his body, as if she was nothing but smoke.

That was strange. Even though she was transparent, she could always touch everyone. But why not this little boy? What was so different about him?

I hesitated, before pulling my hand away, knowing it was best to follow Freydris' will. The boy deflated, looking very disappointed, while my transparent companion grinned triumphantly.

And that was when I saw it.

Gale Everlark –what a strange name, but I guess Freydris had weird tastes when it came to naming her characters- was the school bully. He was strong and powerful and smart and he knew exactly that. Anyone who stood on his way went down and I really meant 'went down'.

Six feet under.

That was a bit exaggerated, but yes.

Currently, the only one standing on his way was the little boy.

Maybe it was instinct, or perhaps something else, but I moved to pull the boy away from Gale's path. Freydris' face was frozen to one of horror, and she promptly vanished into smoke the moment I made skin contact with the boy.

I'll be honest with you. I vanished into smoke too.

* * *

When I came to, it was to a very bright place. The room I was in was all white, books labeled Lord of the Rings open and promptly everywhere. There were huge shelves full of books of them, and there was a laptop on the desk across from me, with what about dozen tabs open, all having information on Lord of the Rings. The printer was printing something noisily, and The Return of the King was playing on the screen to my right.

Freydris, colored and not transparent, was sitting beside me, slurping on soda.

The little boy was lying on my feet, drawing nonsense on a drawing book.

I scooted away from him until there was a three-feet distance between us. And then I relaxed. "Uh...what's going on?"

Freydris gave me a briefly irritated look before pompously answering, "His name is Dûrion."

It was the first time I heard her talk. For someone who looked so boyish, she had a very feminine voice. I gave the little stoic boy another glance before shrugging –I seem to be doing this a lot, "That doesn't really answer my question, but hi Durion."

The boy stopped, looked up, and returned to his work.

The other girl hummed, "It's Dûrion, not Durion." She corrected almost off-handedly, scribbling something on a piece of paper and handing it to me. I accepted it and raised an eyebrow. So the letter u had a small caret above it. Okay.

"Thanks." I told her, and she spared me a hesitant look before shaking her head and pointing at Dûrion. "Gary, do you know what he is?"

I lifted an eyebrow, "Judging by the tone of your voice, I assume that he's not a normal little boy."

She smiled -nothing but a small upward quirk of her lips, but considering that Freydris smiled very closely to not-at-all, it was a pretty big accomplishment, "You turned out quite fine. I knew there was a reason why I particularly liked you out of them all." She muttered, tapping her chin, "You're right. Dûrion here is what we call an Abandoned Plot." She informed me, making exaggerated gestures.

I hummed and looked at her with mild-interest.

"And Abandoned Plots, as their names suggest, are abandoned. Their authors deserted them, or maybe a long-term case of writer's block put them into definite hiatus. When they're abandoned, they're usually fresh for the picking of anybody else." She said, jerking a thumb at the little boy busy with doodling.

"I came across this one when I was surfing websites. It was a poor plot, no doubt the writer was a beginner, but a girl got dropped into Middle Earth, did the deed with random elf," I couldn't help but turn green at this, "-returned to her world, got dropped into Middle Earth again with her baby elf. Prince Legolas apparently falls in love with her, as suggested by the pairing, but the author never got to that part." She explained, shaking her head in slight exasperation, "And this one followed me home. If you're wondering why I can't touch him, it's because he's not mine. Not like you. You're mine. But not him."

I nodded understandingly, before awkwardly asking, "So...um...why am I here?"

Freydris' eyes narrowed into slits, "The reason you are here, why I am here, why he is here...is well, because Gary, you touched him. And as your author, I am obliged to take on Dûrion with you into a story."

My answer was immediate, "No."

"You don't exactly have a choice." She snapped at me, standing up, "I've already equipped myself with information about Lord of the Rings."

"You can't make me." I told her stubbornly, but I regretted it in an instant when her expression transformed into one of vicious fury, so different from her usual blank looks, "Oh believe me, Gary Gray," She snarled lowly, "I _can_."

Dûrion looked up once again from his work, this time, his eyebrows were furrowed.

I clamped my mouth shut, my palms slightly growing wet with fear.

Seeing my pale face, Freydris flinched and looked away, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Look, Gary, I- I didn't want to do this too. But you have no choice. _I_ have no choice. This plot, despite his small form, is actually quite strong. It's because he can click into the plot of Lord of the Rings so easily."

"O-Okay." I mumbled with a small nod of my head, "I-I guess I can do this. What do I do?"

Freydris turned serious, and she pulled out a black hiking bag, "I created and already put your basic necessities into this bag, so try not to lose it." She grumbled, patting the bag, "I'll alter as much as I can from the original plot,"Her gaze flicked towards the little boy, before returning to me again, "But no promises. What you'll do is you'll have to find shelter first, and I'll guide you most of the way."

I nodded reluctantly, "Will I- um, will I take the place of the main character...?"

Her eyes flashed indignantly, "Oh God, no!" She exclaimed, "Not on my watch. I'm actually going to try to mold the story so that Dûrion ends up being the main character. The original girl will remain in her world -it's alright with Dûrion, he didn't care for her that much- and you will be that character who will protect him. Your job will be to reunite him with his father, and then after that I can take you out of the story."

At least she had a plan. I hummed in agreement before asking, "How long will that take?"

"Don't mind that." She said, instead of actually answering, "I'll temporarily stop writing about the story of your world, so no time will pass there."

Oh. "Okay."

Survive another world supposed to protect this kid?

That... might be difficult for me.

Freydris fixed me a long look before turning away, back to sorting out the printed papers. I watched her for some time, before taking up a random Lord of the Rings book and reading it.

I was startled out of my reading when she addressed me, "Look, Gary...this world...Middle Earth... I didn't create it. So that means I can't control what's going to happen to you."

I felt cold for a second, before the fascination settled in. A world where Freydris didn't control everything...

That would prove interesting.

"I can only help you out. So you will have to be extra careful." She warned me, and I nodded wordlessly, shrugging away her concern.

She stared at me for a few more minutes before shaking her head and returning to her stuff.

When it was time to leave for Middle Earth –Freydris told me that it had something to do with Dûrion finishing his weird drawing and looking at me expectantly-, she gave me an awkward hug and gave the little boy a small handshake. And then she handed me the bag, and everything faded away.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a forest. I was dressed in what could only be described as a Star Wars -inspired robes. All I needed was a light-saber. The hiking bag was secured on my back, I had several small bread knives poking my hips, and Dûrion was standing only one foot away from me.

I stepped back two feet.

"Um...okay." I coughed awkwardly, "So I never did get to introduce myself. I'm Gary. I'll be your… traveling companion from now on. It's nice to meet you."

He shrugged and pointed to a random direction. He started walking.

I looked around me. Trees, trees, oh look, more trees.

Oh and look, Freydris.

She was back to being transparent, her image even fainter than it was like from my world, and she was flickering, like a weak flame. She mouthed a 'follow him' and pointed at Dûrion's slowly shrinking figure.

I nodded my head in obedience and trotted after the boy, my mind already sighing and complaining about the effort I had to apply to this particular adventure.

* * *

Freydris had always been that monster under my bed.

Her existence frightened me more than anything.

But believe it or not, most of the time, I looked to her for guidance.

* * *

**A/N: This is actually a trial story for LOTR. I've been in the fandom for so long and only managed to get the courage(and time) to write a fanfic now, so please go easy on me. This is an experimental story -I have my attention on another one that's unfinished(that will remain unfinished until I actually get my fingers to start working) so please tell me what you think about this, guys. No guarantees on when I'll update next, exactly, but I will. _Hopefully_.**

**Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Please review and tell me what you guys think! English isn't my first language and this isn't beta-ed, so corrections on grammar and spelling will be taken in with a huge smile. **

**Review, and thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter One

The Character Code

Chapter One

* * *

After hours of walking –-I wasn't accustomed to walking that far and that long, but I suspect that Freydris had something to do with my sudden increase in endurance- Dûrion and I reached a small stream. We stopped to get some water and rest. Despite being a child supposed to be full of energy, the little boy I was with was tired and to be honest, fatigue was catching up to me too. But it didn't bother me as much as it did Dûrion. I could see it from his slumped shoulders to his trudging little feet.

Something pulled at my sleeve –effectively snapping me out of my thoughts- and suddenly I was stumbling back, muffling an alarmed shout at the child's close proximity. I scrambled backwards, almost in a panic, until there was enough distance between us.

And then I forced myself to calm down, ignoring his hurt expression, "Wh...What do you want, kid?"

He frowned and held out both his arms.

I stared at him with a lack of comprehension on my part.

He huffed impatiently and started flailing his arms childishly.

It clicked. My eyes narrowed and I shook my head, "No." I told him blankly, my mind shuttering at the mere thought of it, "I am not carrying you. This bag alone is heavy enough." I said, gesturing to the huge bag burdening my shoulders.

He pouted but obediently pulled his arms back, head drooping in disappointment and exhaustion. He sat down and started playing with the water instead, a good three and a half feet away from me.

Uncomfortable, I took off the bag and started checking out its contents just to kill time while waiting for my legs to regain some energy.

Let me admit this to the world.

I _really_ was not good with kids.

When my legs felt like they weren't liquid anymore, I hefted the bag into my shoulders and cleared my throat awkwardly to get his attention. He looked up from the wet pebbles he was throwing around and got to his feet, storing the pebbles away into his robes for safe keeping.

I made a little confused sound at that, but brushed it away. It must be a kid thing.

Taking another random direction, I let him lead the way.

It wasn't long before I was the one leading. He was obviously trying to catch up with my long strides, so I made sure to walk as slowly as possible, but even then he lagged behind. If this kept on going, we would have to rest again, but the forest was really starting to creep me out so I wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.

I had no choice.

I stopped walking and turned around warily, my eyebrows twitching in slight irritation. He was around ten feet away from me, panting heavily and leaning on a tree.

I hesitated.

I was going to regret this.

I walked back to him until we were only two feet apart. And then I knelt down and offered my arms.

Getting the message, he stumbled forward and sagged onto my chest gratefully, making me tense. His small hands wound themselves around my neck, and shakily, I wrapped my own around his small frame. I lifted him up stiffly and started walking again, my eyes turned upwards, cursing everything and anything in particular.

It didn't help that he was snuggling against my neck, yawning tiredly.

But Freydris was merciful. I don't know what she did, but I was able to carry the bag and Dûrion easily for a few more hours. Thank God for that.

I walked for the whole day, not stopping, determined to get to a clearing at least. However, the number of trees never seemed to dwindle and if possible they grew even thicker and larger in number, making dread pool at the pit of my stomach. It was getting closer to dusk, and I really did not want to spend a night surrounded by dark trees.

And well, whatever else it was that inhabited Middle Earth.

I didn't know a single thing about Lord of the Rings, so I relied a lot on what Freydris knew. I trusted her. She could get me out of the forest. Hopefully.

It was night and I had a nasty feeling that Dûrion and I were not anywhere near escaping the forest and the trees –today I had seen so many of the blasted tall things that I was starting to get sick of them. I hated that feeling. I hated being lost. But I had no choice and I was forced to put the sleeping child down, much to my brain's relief, and set up camp.

Above a tree.

I wasn't going to take any chances on the flat surface called the ground, thank you very much.

For any other person, it would've been difficult to climb a tree whilst carrying a bag and a kid, but Freydris worked her magic and I managed to get to a decently high branch that could hold our combined weights together. I brought out a small tent, making sure to tie it down to the trunk and other supportive places, before shoving myself, the bag and Dûrion into the tent.

Much to my disappointment, it wasn't anything big in the inside, like the ones in Harry Potter, but it was comfortable enough that I was confident I could get enough rest for the night. Before going to sleep, I filled my stomach with some fruits and left some for the slumbering Dûrion, and then wondered when I could finally go home because I missed my Dad and my Mum and my house and my bed.

Freydris materialized beside me and sighed softly, looking very much put out herself, and dare I say it, scared. She patted my head twice, and then she sent me off to La La Land.

My last thought before sleep finally came to me was that Freydris could get me out of this mess. _She had to._

* * *

When I came to, it was morning, and Dûrion was awake, animatedly chatting nonsense to the... well, to the tree we were perched upon. In case you wanted to know, the tree didn't reply, but the little boy kept on going as if it did and I was taken aback and slightly amused.

Because it was cute.

Three feet away, observation purposes only. Good.

Freydris was sitting in what could only be called an uncomfortable position at the far corner of the tent, and when she caught sight of my conscious state, she inclined her head in greeting and pointed to a plate of bread that wasn't there last night. I didn't question how it came to be with us and only nodded thankfully, tearing the bread into half and awkwardly offering it to Dûrion.

He accepted it with a huge smile and started spouting off nonsense(or was it?), pointing to me, and then to himself, and then to Freydris.

I turned to my author, confused.

She shrugged, giving me a look that translated to "Don't ask me".

I returned my attention to the kid and grimaced upon noticing that he had edged closer towards me and was only a foot away.

I scooted away from him and held out a hand that told him to stop, "Um...Dûrion, why don't we strike up a deal?" I suggested in the friendliest voice I could muster, "You can only come close to me when it's absolutely necessary-"

He promptly ignored me and leaned on my leg, nibbling contentedly on his share of the food.

I exhaled through my nose and tried to unfreeze myself.

Freydris had the nerve to quirk up her lips at the scene before she faded away, like she always did when her job was partly done.

I tried not to pout because it was extremely out of character.

We stayed like that for another hour before it was finally time for us to get up and moving again, much to the protest of my body.

At least this time Dûrion had enough energy to walk and keep up with me, so I didn't have to carry him again. Which was, admittedly, a sort of relief for me.

Walking walking walking agh this is boring walking walking walking-

"Hey wait!" I exclaimed, alarmed as Dûrion's head suddenly snapped up and he took off running to another direction, a look of curiosity in his face. Huffing in irritation, I spared our original course a mournful look before jogging after him, my eyebrows furrowed. Kids were really annoying-

I collided with his frozen form.

"What is it?" I asked him, not bothering to scold him because that took way too much effort and I certainly wasn't worried about him at all, "Why'd you suddenly stop like that-" I looked up.

And froze.

There was a group of...well, a group of _monsters_ standing in front of us, for the lack of a better term, sneering and looking ready to rip us apart. They were rather short in stature and humanoid in general shape, and that general shape was the only thing they had in likeness to myself and Dûrion. They were squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, bow-legged, with wide mouths and slanted eyes, long arms, dark skin, and fangs—really, what the hell- carrying blades and knives and dangerous weapons.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, gripping Dûrion's shoulder tightly.

Why did Freydris send a bunch of-

Oh right. Freydris didn't control this world. She had nothing to do with this. She didn't lead us here. Dûrion did. He didn't know.

"_Y-Yrch_." Dûrion choked out, and I had a second to be shocked because it was the first time I heard him say something that somehow made sense, in that weird, childish way. Is that what these creatures are called? Yrch?

"They're not your family." I mumbled, dragging him back towards me, ignoring the fact that we were hardly three feet apart now, "Let-Let's apologize and go on our way." I told him somewhat nervously, but he stayed frozen. Frozen in fear.

Being the older of us two, I decided it was my responsibility to ask for forgiveness. I looked up and bowed apologetically, "We're really s-sorry, we didn't mean to get in y-your w-" I couldn't even finish what I was saying because out of freaking nowhere, a rusty dagger implanted itself on the tree behind me, missing my head my mere inches.

I glanced at it and squeaked, shrinking away.

Freydris had appeared out of thin air, her expression conveying her own fear. "Run." She mouthed.

_Run. _

I lifted Dûrion into my arms and ran.

My heart was beating wildly. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. This _wasn't_ supposed to happe-

I dived underneath a tree root, caging the child's squirming body and hiding it with my own, praying that it would pass—the yrch would pass—please let them pass-please please please-

An arrow soared. I could tell by the unmistakable _thwang_.

I steeled myself for the pain.

Nothing.

I opened one eye just as a body soared above our tree root, graceful and elegant and lethal and dangerous-

More of said bodies swarmed the area, killing- killing the yrch and my eyes flew back down to Dûrion, who was safe, _alive_, not hurt by some weird stroke of luck, and he didn't see the black blood that was splattered everywhere- not seeing what I was seeing- and I tried to back away from him because we were certainly not three feet away from each other, like I preferred, but then Freydris was suddenly in front of me, cupping my face, laughing- laughing like I hadn't every heard her do before, and she was telling me- telling me that we were safe- that we almost gave her a heart attack- and that we were never gonna do that again-

I slumped over and fainted.

* * *

Dûrion squirmed. Gary had closed her eyes and had fallen still. Was she sleeping? She couldn't be dead- he didn't see anything harm her- so why was she-?

"_Gary.._." He whimpered, clinging to the mortal that he had dubbed his new minder. He liked Gary. She was awkward, always staying away from him, but she had a good heart. All he needed to do was get past the gates and the dogs and the guards and the chains, and seeing as she had protected him, he could see that he was succeeding in burrowing himself into her heart.

He liked her. A lot. She would've made a good mother, but Dûrion already had his own, so Gary would have to be that nice older sister. He could make-do with that.

"_Gaaarryy.._." He whined, trying to push her off him, not minding the fact that he was talking in his own language and she probably didn't understand, "_You're heavy...Get off..." _

He tried to lift her off him. Oomph. She was heavy.

"_Gary..._" He started again, pouting at her lack of cooperation, before it dawned him that maybe it was serious and she really wasn't going to wake up. He started to feel pain in his chest. Why-? "_Gary...don't be dead, please. Wake up..." _

He caught a glimpse of the ever-transparent spirit-like person that always tagged along with Gary and himself, "_Hey... Miss... is Gary alright?_" Oddly enough, she didn't answer him and only patted his head, gesturing to something obscured by Gary's body, but he didn't care. He wanted her to answer his question! His furrowed his eyebrows and glared as menacingly as he could, "_Miss, is Gary alright!?" _

Much to his distress, she only blinked at him and faded away into smoke.

Unfamiliar voices started to register into his hearing, and he stayed still, scared. He clung to Gary's robes.

"_Is the mortal dead?"_

"_No... she seems to be still breathing. Only unconscious."_

"_Did her presence lead those orcs into the valley?"_

"_No. Those beasts were already here before, somehow getting through the patrols. Perhaps she wandered here, lost and through misfortune came across the band of orcs."_

"_Brother...she was carrying something before she fell."_

"_Well, yes, we can check the contents of her pack later-"_

"_No! Not that. She was carrying something in front of her. She shielded it from harm. It was something small-"_

"_Let us see."_

Oh no! They were going to take him away from Gary!

No way!

He let out a small whine when his minder's body was lifted off his, and the sight that greeted him was a group of five people –people like him with pointed ears and all!- standing in a defensive formation.

"_It's- It's a child!"_

"_I'm not a child!" _He found himself shouting back, stumbling up so that he could draw himself up to his full height(which wasn't very impressive at all), "_Don't take her away from me!"_

Silence.

A choke.

"_W-What- What is this?"_

"_B-By the Valar! It's a- It's a-"_

"_Not a child!"_ He childishly snapped, moving to stand in front of Gary's unconscious body, "_Stay back!"_

The elves flinched, as if he had struck them with lightning with his simple words, and they all looked pained and disbelieving and stunned. Very disoriented. And they were devouring him. With their eyes.

"_Li-Little one-"_

"_Not a little one!" _He grumbled, getting tired of the argument, "_Stay away from us." _

"_It's an el-elfling!" _One of the elves whispered, his face twisted in agony, and for a second Dûrion wondered if they were going to move and take him. But they stood there. Stunned.

Not for long, though.

In a flash two were rushing towards him, while the other three had brought out their bows and arrows, looking around them warily, almost as if expecting more orcs to sprout from the bushes like wildflowers. Dûrion had a feeling that it was him they were trying to protect, but he shook off that feeling and took a step back, closer towards Gary.

"_Little one-"_

"_Beriadan! Quickly!"_

"_NOOO!" _Dûrion howled the second the arm wrapped around his waist and carried him up. He kicked and struggled, "_Let go of me!" _He turned around and blindly swung an arm.

In shock, he was dropped and he scrambled and dug his fingers into Gary's robes, "_Get away! Get away from me!"_

"_We're going to bring you to somewhere safe, little one." _One of the elves tried to soothe, only giving his companion –nursing a nasty bruise on the face- a glance before focusing on Dûrion. The elfling shook his head, "_No. I'll stay here! With Gary!"_

There was a pause, "_The forests aren't safe, child, we'll bring you and … Gary into the realm, so that you may rest."_

Dûrion was very stubborn, though.

"_No! We stay here until Gary wakes up! I'm not leaving her!" _He yelled, "_I'm not moving a single inch!"_

The elves were obviously trying to think of something to get him away from his minder. Not gonna happen.

"_P-Please!" _Dûrion pleaded, going for the weepy approach, "_You-You're scaring me!"_

Again, the five elves froze, looking anguished. The leader, or as Dûrion assumed, nodded curtly to his fellow elves and they all took places, their faces alert. He turned to Dûrion and nodded his head, "_Alright then, little warrior, we're going to stay here until your friend awakes."_

Dûrion relaxed, "_Thank you."_

* * *

When I woke up, it was to a cloak draped over my body, my stomach telling me that it was time for lunch, and Dûrion only two feet away from me.

I stiffened, before rolling away, albeit awkwardly, until we were four feet apart. "Um... Dûrion?"

His head snapped up, and he visibly brightened. He crawled over to me, but I had backed away slowly, listening to him babbling nonsense once more.

I sat up carefully and looked around me.

First of all, there were five very handsome men with pointy ears sitting across from the child and I, raising eyebrows and all looking very offended in Dûrion's behalf.

Second of all... What.

Just.. what.

* * *

**A/N: If some of you guys wanted to know, Gary refers to elvish as Dûrion's nonsensical babbling. **

**Okay! Thanks for reading and don't forget to review, guys! Tell me what you think and con. crit. is very much appreciated! Updates are spontaneous. **


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